Treat Huey teams up with SEA rival at Australian Open

Treat Huey and Christopher Rungkat have been at opposite sides of the net for many years playing for their respective countries in many international tournaments like the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, Asian Games and even the Davis Cup.

They sure picked a big stage to launch their partnership.

The two will pair up for the Australian Open, whose men’s doubles competitions kick off next week.

“It feels so good to be back playing a Grand Slam for the first time in a long while,” Huey told the Inquirer on Saturday. “I’ve worked very hard to come back from injuring my back and hip and I’m really looking forward to this tournament.”

Former national team head coach Karl Santamaria, who is now based in Australia, will serve as coach for Huey, who has been making a comeback after a long period of inactivity due to injury.

“Chris and I have had some good practices here in Melbourne the last two days we will keep working and get ready for our first match on Wednesday or Thursday,” added Huey. “We think we can do real well and can compete with all the best teams in the world so we are ready to give it our all and see how it goes.”

The 36-year-old Huey, who has won three Challenger titles in 2020 with partner Nathaniel Lammons of the United States, last saw action in a Grand Slam event in 2018.

Huey, who has won three gold medals in SEA Games, reached the peak of his career by making the men’s doubles semifinals of Wimbledon in 2016 in tandem with Belarus’ Max Mirnyi. His best results in Melbourne was reaching the men’s doubles quarterfinal in 2014 and 2016.

In the 2016 Australian Open, Huey also barged into the semifinals of the mixed doubles along with Slovenia’s Andrea Klepac.

Now he gets to partner with multiple SEA Games champ Rungkat who has been dabbling into doubles competitions lately, and has won a title in 2020. Rungkat is now ranked 142nd in the world in doubles, from as high as 68th in 2019.

From world No. 18 in 2016, Huey is now down at 137th. He did not see action last year, and his last Grand Slam stint was also in Melbourne in 2018.